India launch their campaign in the Twenty20 cricket World Cup with a Group D match against lowly Scotland in Durban on Thursday, hoping to fine-tune their skills and strategies for the tougher games ahead.
The Indians have virtually no experience in this slam-bang version of the game, having played just one match before and it remains to be seen how quickly the team adapts to the requirements.
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With the long tour of Ireland and England ending just a few days back, the Indian team, under a new captain in dashing Mahendra Singh Dhoni, hardly had time to settle down and get to know the nitty-gritty of the game or acclimatise to the conditions.
But they will be bolstered by some fresh legs in Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh, who will use this opportunity to prove their worth and make a return to the national side.
The first task for the Indians is getting their playing combination right and getting used to the bouncy track and strong wind. It is important for them to hit form early as they square up against traditional rivals Pakistan the following day at the same venue.
So, while Scotland may be no more than a sparring partner, there is every reason for the Indians to get a head start as they eye the big game against Pakistan.
"We are playing the second World Cup in this year but what happened in the West Indies is history. This is a fresh start and I want my team to enjoy the game," captain Dhoni said.
Having arrived just 48 hours back from a long tour of Ireland and England, the Indians have had little time to get their strategy in place. And yet, their biggest headache remains in picking their best eleven.
"The good thing about this team is that 12 of our 15 players can bat and bowl. That gives us lots of options. We have a young and determined side and we are fortunate enough to have 3-4 good finishers in the team," Dhoni said.
Indeed, when you have seniors like Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar and Dinesh Karthik competing for spots in the first eleven against the likes of Piyush Chawla, S Sreesanth and Yusuf Pathan respectively, it is not easy to make your pick.
However, among the certainties, Sehwag should be opening with Robin Uthappa, with Yuvraj Singh coming in at number three or four -- if the team sticks to Gautam Gambhir at number three. Dhoni himself can be in at number five, or even higher, depending upon the situation.
Among others, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan and Joginder Sharma can be useful all-rounders.
While picking their bowlers, the Indians will do well to make sure they do not have a suspect tail. For flexibility will the buzzword and everyone needs to stand up and be counted.
With Irfan and R P Singh certain to play, the choice will be between Sreesanth and Agarkar for the third pacer. Similarly, with Sehwag himself being a useful off-spinner, it remains to be seen whether Harbhajan Singh makes it to the playing eleven.
"The team looks good on paper. But that hardly matters. What matters is for everyone to contribute in crunch games and crunch situations. We have to play as a unit," Dhoni rightly stressed.
Fielding has been a major worry for India but, hopefully, the presence of young, enthusiastic players will help them overcome that grey area.
"The younger players will help our team to be more agile. We have some fresh legs and we can expect a good standard of fielding," said Dhoni.
Scotland is yet to play a major Twenty 20 match and they have only qualified for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup by reaching the final of the ICC World Cricket League in Kenya early this year where it lost to the hosts in the final.
The team may not hold a major threat to any of the opposition, but they are certainly no pushovers.
Led by Ryan Watson, Scotland has some of the players with County cricket experience in Doughie Brown who also played nine one-dayers for England before shifting to Scotland and Gavin Hamilton, who also played a Test for England.
The teams:
India (from): Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, Joginder Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, R P Singh, S Sreesanth.
Scotland (from): Ryan Watson (capt), John Blain, Doughie Brown, Gordon Drummond, Gavin Hamilton, Majid Haq, Ross Lyons, Gregor Maiden, Neil Mccallum, Dewald Nel, Qasim Sheikh, Colin Smith, Fraser Watts, Craig Wright.
